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Darling, Where are We?

My husband, who kept holding on to that map, and, turned it over and over again, trying, to match where we are, in the end, he’d let out a sigh, “It’s best, that we find a tourist center to inquire.”

From before, we’d both complained how when we go on tours, we’d only gotten to see the sights, not in depth, and now, because our son works for the airline, he’d gotten us the discounted airfare prices, and after we were both retired, we can embark, on these brand new journeys of self-help trips. But strangely enough, no matter how much research we did beforehand, the moment we got off the planes, we’d still become, fazed and confused.

in a foreign place, we better check the maps!!! Not my photo.

Dragged along those, heavyset luggage, looking around lost in the airports in Europe, looking at those, wide variety of signs, we’d thought: how will we get to the hotel we’d made the reservations for? It’s too expensive by cab, besides, what if the driver cheats us? We’d thought about taking the subway or the metro transit, but, where, do we buy the tickets? We can’t even tell which direction is which, even if we dared ask around, they may not be willing to speak English with you, what, do we do?

My husband had, made the right call, when you’re abroad, you need to find those tourist centers to ask, because the workers spoke fluent English, and you can get a map of the city for free, the workers would even recommend some sights we can visit. But, there were, instances when this had, backfired too, like that time we were at the borders of Belgium and France, as we’d exited the train stations, we saw a HUGE red “i” sign, we’d followed the arrows, but, we’d turned and turned, the “i” got smaller, and smaller, and, about half an hour later, the “i” disappeared, there was, nothing but this, dense forest before us, we’d become, stunned! Ho! Then we found, that the trees had, blocked the signs from view.

I’m naturally without a sense of direction, and I can’t read maps, so, finding out where we are, how to get to where we are going, it’s all up to my husband, all I needed to do, was to walk along with him, and take photos leisurely. Every time we’d arrived at a strange intersection, he’d made a stop, and seriously, examined the map in his hands, and I’d said to him, relaxed and all, “Just follow the other tourists!”, and, my without-thinking-first suggestions were, almost all correct, but once, my way failed in London. We’d wanted to buy a can of the famous black tea as a gift at the famous Apple Market, we read the map, that it was, right next to the exit of the subway, close to the Chinese street, but the day we went shopping, it’d rained, it became wet and cold, and we couldn’t find the tourist clusters, and the marketplaces don’t look like on the maps, we just, couldn’t, find the place.

But, there would be, moments where I, the lost on the road made discoveries, like when we’d gone to Marseilles, France, we’d exited the hotel, it was so bright and so sunny, that we’d become, dizzied of the heat, and I’d, counted on my sharpened sense of smell (there’s that fishy stench that came from the distance), followed the bowl-shaped geography of Marseilles, walked downward, and successfully, got to that must-see sight at the beaches.

My husband is a natural “worrier”, he’d gotten anxious and worried easily, as we arrived at a foreign country; I’d consoled him, “this is not getting lost, we’re tourists, and, any sight is fresh, new, and exquisite to us.” But, he’d felt that sudden surge of responsibilities, like a tour guide who feared getting complaints by the tourists he’d led, and insisted that we get to every single sight we’d had on our itineraries.

So, as we’d traveled together, I’d often made fun of him, whether it be the maps, or, as this, aged Asian man was, working hard, flipping through the tourist guide books, I’d asked him from time to time, “Darling, where, are we?”

This time though, he’d hit the marks right now, “Stop bugging me! We’re in Europe, in Germany, the city of Bremen, on our way to find the famous band players from the Brothers’ Grimm’s fairytales—the Band of Bremen statues”.

So, we have here, a man who needed the structure, who need to know where he’s going before he sets out, with his wife who’s more spontaneous, more relaxed, because she knew she has her husband to count on if they get lost in a foreign country, and, it’s, harder on the husband, because he’s shouldering up his wife’s safety, and his own ego too.